August 13th, 2019 Mortgage Industry Update

The Bank of Canada announced on July 10th that it’s overnight lending rate will remain at 1.75%. The prime rate remains 3.95%. The common prediction currently stands that the Bank of Canada will likely keep rates consistent for the remainder of 2019, with the small possibility of a rate decrease.

Additionally this week:– Statistics Canada: Canadian families more likely to be homeowners now than in 1999. Share of those with paid off mortgages down from 46% to 43%. Size of mortgage debt up from $91,900 to $180,000. Couples with children had mortgages that were 112% larger.

– TREB: July GTA average price of a detached home down 0.9% annually to $995,043. Condos averaged $584,019, up 6.7%. Toronto price growth was strongest for condos; average price was $627,927, up 7.7%. Average Toronto price of a detached home down 9.1% to $1,227,301.

– TREB: GTA home price index was up 4.4% last month as supply of properties for sale tightened, and number of sales jumped 24.3% from 2018. Overall average selling price for properties up 3.2% year-over-year to $806,755. The number of properties sold increased to 8,595 from 6,916.

– Urbanation: For the first time on record, average asking price of a pre-sale unit in the GTA has reached $1,000 per square foot. Put another way, after rising 9% in 12 months, a single square foot of new GTA condo costs about as much as a month’s rent for a studio apartment.

– Brampton Guardian tracked data from the TREB for June and found that the average sale price for all types of dwellings in Canada’s ninth-largest city came in at $744,590; an incredible 68.8% increase from the $454,558 average reported in June 2014.

– The US Federal Reserve reduced interest rates (by 0.25%) for the first time since the financial crisis and hinted it may cut again this year to insulate the record-long U.S. economic expansion from slowing global growth.

Stay tuned for the next update!

For any questions and concerns please do not hesitate to call Harpreet Singh The Mortgage King at (416) 795-1919.